It has been confirmed that thousands more NHS cancer patients are set to be offered treatment from the comfort of their own home.
This announcement comes following a successful scheme in Manchester.
A specialist team at the renowned cancer centre, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Withington, is currently already delivering lifesaving chemotherapy and immunotherapy at home for around 130 patients per week, after beginning to offer the option for breast cancer patients back in 2016 – but now, there are plans to roll it out more widely.
It’s hoped that up to 10,000 patients with breast, bowel, kidney, lung, prostate or melanoma skin cancer will be treated per year.
The ‘Christie at Home’ service currently consists 12 fully-qualified chemotherapy and immunotherapy nurses from the hospital, and it additionally offers more than 25,000 of treatments each year from a mobile unit and regional clinics.
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But how does it work?
Well, patients are given their first two treatments in a clinic – to allow doctors to assess them and monitor for any potential complications – and if they’re given the all-clear, they can then opt to have the rest of their treatments at home.
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The drugs are delivered by a pharmacist and specialist nurses visit to administer them.
Stephanie Hechter – Outreach Service Manager at The Christie – told the Daily Mail that the service has been proving popular and effective throughout the trial period, and particularly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as “patients don’t have to spend time travelling to and from hospital appointments, and they don’t need to worry about parking or sitting around in waiting rooms”.
She continued: The benefits of at-home treatment were even greater last year, when many patients were worried about coming to hospital.
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“Our way, they get a time slot and one-on-one nursing care.
“It meant that no one missed appointments [and] we were able to keep providing treatment as usual.”
It’s also been confirmed that The Christie is working with and could act as a blueprint for another leading cancer centre, The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, as with figures suggesting there are 4.5 million patients waiting for hospital treatment, experts are saying the service could be a way for other hospitals to help ease pressure caused by a backlog of patients who have seen procedures or treatments delayed during the pandemic.
It could also prevent patients from having to come into hospitals where strict hygiene control and social distancing measures are still place.
One patient to have benefited from the ‘Christie at Home’ service is Bob Huntbach – a 72-year-old retired Detective Superintendent from Urmston, who is a father-of-two, grandfather to five, great grandfather to two, and was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer four years ago – who has been receiving immunotherapy treatment every six weeks and says he sat in his conservatory while the nurses carried out the treatment.
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Bob added: “When I was going to hospital for the treatment, I had to write off a whole day and it’s very tiring [but] now, I have the treatment at home and it makes a huge difference.
“You also get a one-to-one service with the nurse, who can answer all your questions”.
Unfortunately in recent months, the cancer has spread to Bob’s lungs and he will now need to go onto a new drug to continue his fight against the disease, but he says that the time he saved travelling has made all the difference to keeping up a somewhat normal lifestyle.
“Once the nurses have gone, I can spend time in my workshop,” he says.
“At my age, every day counts”.
Featured Image – The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
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Government launches £442m drive to get rough sleepers off streets before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has launched a £442m drive to get rough sleepers off the streets before Christmas.
Learning from ‘innovative’ approaches put into place during the pandemic, the Government has announced that new accommodation will be rolled out across England this winter, as well as offering practical help with housing, health, and other needs to support people to build a more stable life for themselves in the future.
The new commitment to offer everyone a route off the streets this Christmas, along with boosted funding, reflect the Andy Burnham‘s national drive to make ‘real change’ and get everyone playing their part in ending rough sleeping.
Not only will these plans change the lives of rough sleepers, but it’s also said they will have huge benefits for the country as a whole.
Research from homelessness charity Crisis suggests that by preventing 40,000 people from becoming homeless for a year, taxpayers could save around £370 million.
The Government has launched a £442m drive to get rough sleepers off the streets before Christmas / Credit: Number 10 Press Office | Jon Tyson (via Unsplash)
As well provisions to get people off the streets, and the intensive ‘wraparound’ support, the newly allocated funding will also help local areas deliver more than 1,000 ‘settled’ homes over the next three years, it has been confirmed.
Areas facing the greatest pressures will receive the largest share of support.
Working alongside councils, Mayors will play a leading role in driving local action to end rough sleeping, and will be tasked with making decisions that are right for their communities to deliver help where it’s needed most.
The Prime Minister says he ‘won’t accept’ rough sleeping any longer. He commented: “No one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station, but we’ve seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it.
“That’s why my first instruction as Prime Minister was to end rough sleeping, and it’s why today we’re getting started with a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas. We did it in the pandemic, we can do it again. But it needs all of us.
“Government will put the money in, but I’m asking leaders in communities and sectors across society to play their part locally too.
“Let’s get people out the cold, and let’s bring back hope.”
Featured Image – Gary Knight (via Flickr)
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Trainline and Virgin Atlantic among companies being investigated for ‘misleading’ pricing
Emily Sergeant
A number of companies are currently under investigation for ‘misleading’ pricing practices.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched three new consumer protection investigations into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic, and RED Driving School over concerns that customers were not shown the total price upfront when buying things like train and coach tickets, holidays, or even driving lessons.
The investigations are part of a wider CMA clampdown on misleading pricing practices – in this instance, where mandatory charges are separated from the headline price, or added later in the buying process, which is known as drip pricing.
These practices leave consumers facing ‘unexpected’ costs or having to calculate the so-called true cost themselves.
Such practices can also impact competition between businesses, as a firm using drip pricing may falsely appear to be cheaper than a competitor pricing correctly, and therefore attract more customers.
Trainline and Virgin Atlantic are among the companies being investigated for ‘misleading’ pricing / Credit: Northern | Aric Cheng (via Unsplash)
Trainline is being investigated over whether all mandatory fees have been included in the upfront prices displayed to consumers buying tickets in advance on its app and website, while Virgin Atlantic’s investigation will focus on whether mandatory resort fees and local taxes have been included in the upfront prices shown to customers buying package holidays.
RED Driving School is being investigated over how a mandatory booking fee and ‘digital’ fee have been displayed to people booking driving lessons – specifically whether these fees have been included in the total upfront price.
“At a time when many households are watching every pound they spend, it is important that people are not surprised by extra fees,” commented Emma Cochrane, who is the Executive Director for Consumer Protection at the CMA.
“Clear pricing helps people compare offers confidently and choose the option that works best for them.
“Unexpected mandatory charges make this much harder, which is why the CMA initially put these firms on notice over concerns about their pricing practices and is now opening formal investigations.”
The CMA says it’s at the beginning of its investigations and has reached no conclusions about whether these firms have broken the law.
If it finds there has been an infringement of the law, the CMA can order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers or be charged up to 10% of global turnover.
The Manc -
6th April 2021 
